Connecticut Audubon Society Bird Finder for May 23: Red Knot

Red Knot
Calidris cornutus

This week’s Connecticut Audubon Society Bird Finder was written by Anthony Zemba.

The Red Knot is a shorebird typically found along the Connecticut coastline during northbound and southbound migration. This member of the sandpiper family (family Scolopacidae – sandpipers, dowitchers, phalaropes, woodcock, and snipes) is one of a number of shorebirds that passes through our state during migration, but does not breed here, preferring instead the tundra of the Arctic north.

Where to find it: Not known to occur at inland locations, Red Knots can be found on Connecticut’s barriers beaches from mid-April to the end of May, and then again from July through mid-September. Sometimes non-breeding individuals may linger along Connecticut barrier beaches between migratory periods, and late individuals may pass through on southbound migration well into November. On rare occasions, individual stragglers may spend the winter on the Connecticut coast until spring.

Look for this bird on some of the large barrier beach systems in Long Island Sound, especially the Milford Point Coastal Center, Sandy/Morse Point in West Haven, Griswold Point in Old Lyme, and Bluff Point in Groton.

How to find it: These birds spend most of their time foraging along the waterline within the intertidal zone, so flocks of shorebirds should be scanned with binoculars or telescopes from afar in order to not disturb the bird from its foraging behavior. As migrants, they must spend a majority of their time actively foraging. They do this to obtain enough calories to sustain their migratory journey, establish a breeding territory and attract a mate with courtship displays (males), lay and incubate a clutch of eggs (females), and for the adults to defend the nest and young from predators.

What it looks like: Red Knots are a small but rather stocky sandpiper. At approximately 10.5″ in length, they are two to four inches bigger than most other species in the genus Calidris (often referred to by birders as “peeps”) including the more common Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers (C. minutilla and C. pusilla), but smaller than dowitchers, willets, and the American Oystercatcher. In full breeding plumage, the Red Knot will sport a pale salmon coloration on its neck, throat, belly and flanks, which contrasts with its gray, scaly-textured back.

In non-breeding plumage (September to April) the birds appear gray and non-descript to a beginner birder. During that time period, look for a large, gray, stocky sandpiper with a relatively short, straight bill, and whitish flanks with dark barring. Young of the year birds – which move through our state from August through October – will look like non-breeding adults in general body coloration, but their gray backs will show a scalier looking pattern and, in good light, dull yellow-olive colored legs. The plumage of both sexes are similar.

What if the bird isn’t there: At this time of year, there is plenty to see on Long Island Sound beaches and nearby areas. There were 50 species, for example, at Milford Point several days ago, including Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Common Loon, Glossy Ibis, Orchard Oriole, and Piping Plover.

Conservation status: The Red Knot is not included on Connecticut’s list of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last September a proposal to list a subspecies of the Red Knot that migrates through the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts (known as the “Rufa Red Knot” – Calidris canutus rufa) as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder is edited by Tom Andersen.
Photos by Dick Daniels, top, and Mick Sway, Carolinabirds.org.